Chapter 6 The Sixth Day After Stopping Running The sixth day after stopping running...

Chapter 6 The Sixth Day After Stopping Running The sixth day after stopping running...

"We're back! Soy milk and fried dough sticks, hurry up and get your bowls and chopsticks!"

The fat man, carrying two bags of soy milk and fried dough sticks, strode into the courtyard with his toes pointing outwards, looking like a general returning victorious from battle.

He called out, but no one answered. When Wen Chan came in, everyone inside came out.

Chen Bozheng and Lin Qingfeng, among others, did not have a single smile on their faces.

Lin Qingfeng, in particular, had a face as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Hey, why are you all acting like you're deaf when I call you to get the bowls and chopsticks?" the fat man said jokingly as he opened the table while carrying the things.

Little did he know that his words would ignite Lin Qingfeng's fury.

Lin Qingfeng glared at him. "Are you deaf? Can't you speak properly?"

The fat man was dumbfounded, his small eyes full of confusion. "Fengzi, what's wrong with you so early in the morning? Did you take some gunpowder?"

"Brother Zheng, my train is almost here, I have to go quickly."

Stick had been keeping his head down, but now he looked at his watch, raised his head, and stammered.

The fat man froze for a moment, then jumped up on the spot. "Go, where are you going?"

Wen Chan folded the newspaper in her hand, glanced at the group of people, and then her gaze fell on the bag in Gunzi's hand.

Chen Bozheng said, "Even if you want to leave, there's no need to rush. Eat first, then leave. Food is expensive on the train."

"No, no need, I'll just buy a few steamed buns on the way," Stick said awkwardly, scratching his head. "It's just that, Brother Zheng, I'm not partnering with everyone anymore. Now I'm paying out of pocket..."

His face turned bright red, as if he also felt that he was being very dishonest.

After all, he was the one who initially proposed a partnership, and now he's the one trying to take the money away.

"Stick, you know our current situation!" Lin Qingfeng couldn't hide his agitation, his face flushed with anger. "We agreed to split the profits together, and now you want to leave, we won't stop you, but you still want a cut? Isn't that kicking someone when they're down?"

"Give him the money." Chen Bo glanced at the stick and said to Lin Qingfeng.

"Brother Zheng, this!" Lin Qingfeng looked at Chen Bozheng with a mixture of confusion and excitement.

Chen Bozheng said, "Here you go, we won't force anyone."

Lin Qingfeng gritted his teeth, went back to get two hundred yuan, and returned the stick to him, saying, "Get lost, I won't see you off."

Stick, his face flushed, picked up his bag and slunk away from Wen Chan.

The fat man and Wen Chan exchanged a glance.

Wen Chan's stomach rumbled, and Chen Bo glanced at her before going to the kitchen to get some bowls and chopsticks.

The group wasn't in a good mood during breakfast.

Chen Bo was seemingly lost in his own thoughts and didn't have time to observe Wen Chan, so he didn't notice at all that Wen Chan had silently devoured two fried dough sticks.

These past few days she's only been able to eat light meals. In the past, Wen Chan wouldn't have dared to eat anything high in calories, like fried dough sticks. People on Wall Street are incredibly fit; a bunch of white men and women talk about wanting to be healthy and free, but secretly they work overtime late into the night and then go to the gym to work out, all to maintain a good figure so that others can believe they are capable.

"Would you like to read the newspaper?" Wen Chan suddenly asked.

The monk and Lin Qingfeng both looked at her with suspicion.

Wen Chan patted Chen Bozheng and handed him the newspaper: "Newspaper."

Chen Bo glanced at the newspaper, then at her, his eyes filled with a hint of speechlessness. "I don't have the habit of reading newspapers."

“Then I suggest you start training them today.” Wen Chan smiled slightly, folded the newspaper, and pointed to the news about treasury bonds. “Look here, treasury bonds can be redeemed at banks and exchanges on the 1st of next month.”

“What does this have to do with us?” Lin Qingfeng said. “We don’t buy treasury bonds.”

Wen Chan said, "But we can buy it."

Chen Bo put down his chopsticks, took the newspaper, read it carefully, and then looked at Wen Chan. "I remember that government bonds are calculated at an annual interest rate of 10%. Even if you buy 1,000 units of 1985 government bonds now, you can only get 1,500 units at the beginning of next month at most."

"You can't calculate it like that. The expiration date is almost here. Even if you want to buy it, I'm afraid the price won't be much cheaper," Lin Qingfeng interrupted Chen Bozheng.

“Yes,” Wen Chan said, “but there’s still profit to be made. Not many people probably know that you can collect interest when government bonds mature. We can go to the bank to inquire about the price. If the price is lower than 150 yuan per 100 yuan of government bonds, it will be a good opportunity for us to make money.”

Chen Bo's mind started to wander.

He had originally planned to ask a friend about underground boxing today, but Wen Chan's suggestion intrigued Chen Bozheng.

Lin Qingfeng and the others looked at Chen Bozheng.

Chen Bozheng made the decision, "Okay, let's go ask."

In 1990, there were only a few major banks in China: the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, and the Agricultural Bank of China.

Each major bank has its own business scope. The Agricultural Bank of China is responsible for serving agriculture, the Bank of China is responsible for foreign-related matters, the China Construction Bank is responsible for budgetary construction funds, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China controls the credit business of all industrial and commercial enterprises [1]. These banks also contract the business of trading government bonds.

Chen Bozheng found an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch near the center of Shenzhen.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) branch wasn't very big. It was a little past nine in the morning, but there weren't many people in the lobby, only a few employees chatting idly at the service windows.

When they saw Chen Bozheng and his group walk in, the employees were stunned for a moment, their faces showing confusion.

Clearly, this branch office is rarely visited, and these few people don't look like leaders or state-owned enterprise cadres.

"May I ask what brings you here?" Bank manager Sun Peng approached, his attitude very polite.

The fat guy and his companions were a bit hesitant. Although they didn't come here to do anything bad, they still felt restrained and inferior.

Chen Bozheng, however, remained calm and nodded to Sun Peng, "Hello, we're here to inquire about the current price of government bonds?"

"Buy government bonds?" Sun Peng was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and pointed to the blackboard on the wall, which showed the buying and selling prices. "Today's prices are on there. The selling price for every 100 yuan of government bonds is 118."

Chen Bozheng glanced at the blackboard, then his gaze lingered on it.

The selling price of 118 is equivalent to today's government bond redemption price of 102!

"102? Your price is wrong, isn't it?!"

When Lin Qingfeng saw the price, he was stunned and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Is this the price of the 1985 batch of treasury bonds?"

Sun Peng didn't take it seriously. "Yeah, there's something wrong with this price. It's quite high, 10 yuan more than at the end of last year."

Chen Bo's pupils contracted.

He cast aside his hesitation on the way here, his heart pounding rapidly. "So, can you accept individuals buying and selling government bonds here?"

Sun Peng's face showed a hint of pride, "Of course, right now, only we and a few other major cities like Shanghai can do this kind of transaction. If you have any government bonds you want to sell, you can bring them here to sell, and the price of 102 will definitely satisfy you."

Lin Qingfeng and the others exchanged glances. Everyone's heart was pounding, but no one spoke.

Chen Bo thanked them, asked for their business address's phone number, and then led everyone out.

After walking some distance, Chen Bozheng finally spoke, his hands in his pockets, staring at Wen Chan: "These government bonds are about to mature, so why is the bank's buyback price still so low?"

Wen Chan found it difficult to explain the absurdity of this matter to Chen Bozheng. In the 1990s, there were many strange and outrageous things. What was the big deal about the price of a mere government bond?

But she still explained, "Banks don't make money from this, so their response is naturally slower. Government bonds on the black market are definitely not that cheap; their prices are higher than those at banks."

Just as she finished speaking, a simply dressed man with a satchel around his waist walked over and asked, "Hey, gentlemen, do you have any government bonds?"

As the man spoke, his eyes scanned the surroundings, as if he were avoiding someone.

Chen Bozheng and the others were stunned for a moment.

Chen Bo gave the monks a look, then asked the man, "What's the price now?"

The man said in a low voice, "If it's not much, I'll take your money back according to 119. If it's a lot, I'll give you a round number."

"120?" Chen Bo asked rhetorically, raising his eyebrows.

The man revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth and raised his chin. "How about it, is the price reasonable, brother? Those government bonds are going to get moldy sitting at home. Why not sell them to me? Making some money is making money too."

If you didn't know that the country was going to redeem its government bonds next month, this statement would be quite tempting.

But now that we know that at the beginning of next month, every 100 yuan of government bonds can be exchanged for 150 yuan including principal and interest, this statement sounds utterly unappealing.

Chen Bozheng nodded: "Okay, we'll go back and think about it."

"Brother, don't think about it for too long. Such a good price isn't available every day. You guys just came from the bank, right? Their prices are much lower than ours, only 102." Seeing that they were about to leave, the man didn't want to stop them, so he tried to provoke them with his words.

Chen Bo waved to the man and led the group away.

When they got home, everyone's mood changed from the gloomy mood of the morning.

Chen Bo picked up the newspaper and looked at it again and again.

He almost read the news carefully before putting down the newspaper and saying to Lin Qingfeng, "Fengzi, take out all our money and let's see how much we have in total."

Lin Qingfeng returned with a pile of loose change.

Chen Bozheng counted it, and it totaled 1029 yuan.

"If we sell those cigarettes and alcohol yesterday, we can make about 200," the monk reminded him.

The fat man rubbed his back teeth. "This isn't enough. It's only a little over 1200 in total. Even if we buy them all, we can only earn a little over 1600 next month at most."

"The price of these government bonds must vary all over China, right?"

Chen Bo was staring at the money when he suddenly uttered those words, which made Wen Chan look at him with some surprise.

Chen Bo met Wen Chan's gaze. Wen Chan rested her chin on her hand and said, "That's definitely different. Putting aside everything else, apart from a few big cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai where you can buy and sell government bonds, for people in other smaller cities, government bonds are no different from waste paper."

"Then the prices of government bonds issued by banks in those places are also different?" Chen Bozheng's eyes lit up.

Wen Chan couldn't help but admire the other party's keen insight, and nodded, "A commodity can only be priced if it is circulated. Without circulation, how can a price be set?"

She paused for a moment, then added, "I estimate that the more remote the bank, the lower the price of its government bonds will likely be."

"How low can it go?!"

Even the monks couldn't help but speak up.

No one can remain indifferent when faced with an opportunity to get rich quick.

Wen Chan said, "Didn't Manager Sun just say that at the end of last year, the price of treasury bonds was only 92 per 100 yuan?"

Everyone's mind went blank for a moment.

Anyone who has graduated from elementary school can easily do the math between 150 and 92, meaning that for every 100 yuan, the profit is at least 58 yuan.

"If we had 100,000 yuan, wouldn't we be able to earn it all at once..." the fat man exclaimed, his face covered in sweat with excitement.

Before he could even process it, Chen Bozheng gave the answer: "Fifty-eight thousand!"

Everyone gasped in shock.

Fatty and the others had all worked hard to earn their money. The 40,000 yuan they pooled together this time was mostly contributed by Chen Bozheng, and they each contributed several thousand yuan.

These few thousand yuan represent the capital they've accumulated over the years by doing business and helping others sell goods.

Although they said they trusted Chen Bozheng and believed he could resolve the issue of the 80,000 yuan payment.

But no one expected that it was Wen Chan who came up with such a solution, and that this solution was not only legal but also extremely profitable!

A note from the author:

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[1] From Baidu

The prices of treasury bonds are real, not made up by the author. It's also true that treasury bonds were sold at low prices before maturity, and many people made their fortunes by trading treasury bonds back then.